This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Engine accessories such as vacuum pumps, compressors, external water pumps, power steering pumps, idlers, and generators can be driven by a belt that is driven by the crankshaft, either directly or indirectly. In order to function properly, the belt needs to be appropriately tensioned between a drive pulley and a driven pulley wherein the drive pulley is drivingly connected to the crankshaft of the engine and the driven pulley is mounted to a shaft of the accessory. Current accessory mount designs include a pivot hole provided on the accessory housing and a radial slot that allows the accessory housing to be pivoted about a pin received in the pivot hole. A fastener is provided for tightening the accessory housing in a fixed position once the belt is properly tensioned. A tensioner bolt can be utilized for applying a tensioning force against the housing of the accessory so that the fastener can be tightened along the radial slot in a desired position with an appropriate amount of belt tensioning.
A problem with this design is that the current design does not allow proper tension bolt tightening since the tension bolt tightens in a straight line while the radial slot has an arcuate travel path that it must follow. Therefore, the straight tensioning bolt and arcuate slot lead to binding issues that can prevent the belt from being tensioned properly.
Accordingly, is desirable to provide a simple and easy installation of a stretch belt on an engine accessory without compromising the intended life of either the belt or bearing in the accessory component.